TMC patients getting relief from middle-of-the-night interruptions

After analyzing its service patterns, the Tucson Medical Center Laboratory determined that a new schedule for taking blood samples could help patients get a better night’s sleep.

Pilot projects demonstrated that clinical care would not be compromised by changing schedules to avoid middle-of-the-night blood draws. And now, collection times for lab samples on most units have been changed – no routine draws between late evening and early morning.

For example, on affected hospital units, routine daily lab orders entered by 4:30 a.m. will be drawn between 5 and 8 a.m., and routine daily lab orders entered by 6:30 p.m. will be drawn between 7 and 10 p.m.

Some areas continue to operate around the clock, and samples may need to be taken at any time in units such as Emergency, Labor & Delivery, Pediatrics, NICU, PICU and Adult ICU.

“We are delighted that we can make this change to the routine daily lab draw schedule,” said John Allen, director, Laboratory Services. “We believe that by making these adjustments, we will allow our patients ‘Time to Heal’ – the name we have given this project in Laboratory Services. We hope our patients will only notice that they are able to sleep more soundly, as our efforts combine with those of each patient care unit to make the environment quiet, safe and restoring.”